Upgrade to WIN 10 from WIN 7 or 8.1 -- Concerns

[DJArt (Baby Boomer DJ)]

Since I'm not the most knowledgeable about computer system upgrades, I figured someone with the expertise may be able to give me a list of TO DO BEFORE you upgrade.

Is the upgrade i.e. from Win 7 to Win 10 like installing an operating system on a blank computer?  What I mean...is it necessary to copy all of my data files and photos to thumb drive or external drive and then copy them back after the upgrade?  Will I lose everything on my computer when I upgrade?

I've already downloaded the most recent OTS 1.90.44 maintenance to my main computer and gig computer.

Any help would be appreciated.  Also, please use the KISS method of reply.  Keep in mind you're talking to an old fart with limited tech savvy. 

[Jumpin' Jeff]

If you are looking to do a clean install, it is recommended you do the upgrade path first, leaving everything as is. This will simply convert your existing win7-8.1 system into 10 with all your programs intact. Once this is done, Microsoft will have your windows 10 registration activated, and you will be able to format, and do a clean install of 10, and it will automatically register with your previous machine info.

Other than the machine I installed the preview on, I didn't bother with a clean install on any of the other systems I've converted. I've upgraded 7 systems now, and none of them gave me an issue that a reboot did not resolve. I do recommend you use something like Macrium reflect to image your drive before doing the upgrade however, in case something does go wrong. I had 2 of the systems hang after the upgrade, and never make it back to the desktop, but after the reboot, this was resolved. I don't recommend rebooting during the upgrade process manually, unless it hangs for a very unreasonable time frame. Most of the machines did the upgrade in under an hour, but the speed of your machine makes a big difference. My i7 3770 ASUS laptop upgraded in 30 minutes on the SSD drive.

[DJArt (Baby Boomer DJ)]

Jeff, still wondering about loss of data when doing the upgrade to Win 10 from Win 7 on one computer and Win 8 on another.  Reading between the lines of your reply, it would appear that it is not necessary to copy all my data files out for safety; however, I don't intend to do a Clean Install of Win 10 on either laptop.

[Darryl]

Since we know you are not hugely technical, make a safe copy of anything that matters to you using a method you are familiar with and confident with before you try anything else we suggest.   Once you've got a safe copy of your data, photos etc then we can help you with the more advanced disk clone.  You can never have too many backups.

Jeff suggested you make a backup of the entire hard disk - this would also include your data files, but has the additional benefit that you could recover the entire PC (including the old Windows installation) in the event of an upgrade failure.

There are several good hard disk cloning free utilities around - but you'll need an additional hard disk to clone to as well as the technical know-how of how to get them both connected to your PC at the same time. 

The simplest approach is to use a USB hard disk drive.  Be very careful when selecting the source and destinations for the backup - if you accidentally copy the wrong way around you can lose all your data.  Of course, if you've already made a separate backup using a method you are happy with, this would just be an embarrassment rather than a catastrophe.

If in doubt, post back and ask for more advice.

[DJArt (Baby Boomer DJ)]

Thanks, Darryl.
I have an external HD (My Book (3TB) Essential).  Do I do a "backup" or simply copy all of my C:\ files to a folder on the MB Ext HD?

And, thank you again for KISS reply.   

[Darryl]

The problem with doing any backup is that you have to do a restore to be sure that it's worked.  If you just copy the stuff you want to your My Book drive, you can check it on another PC quite easily.  The downside of doing that is that it's now your responsibility to ensure that you've copied everything that you need to.   I'd err on the side of caution and do the manual copy first, then do a backup using a software backup solution.

I've had success with this one: http://ping.windowsdream.com/ - It has the facility to backup the entire drive to a file on your external drive.  I can't give you step-by-step instructions because I've not used it for ages, but if you decide to try it I can point you in the right direction in their help pages on their website.

[DJArt (Baby Boomer DJ)]

Thanks guys.  I can't do the upgrade now, but will get back in a couple weeks.

[Jigger]

I have upgraded three computers two from win 7 and one Win 8. I upgraded and kept all files and settings, no problems at all.
I then decided to do a clean install on my laptop again no problems.
Other than doing what Jeff and Darryl suggested back up important files you should find the process easy.

[Jumpin' Jeff]

Again, I suspect it should be a straight forward upgrade from my experience, but I would always recommend doing the backup just in case. It's smart to do incremental backups of the system, Just in case the HDD were to fail anyhow.

I use Macrium reflect free to clone my drive to another disk.
http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

It does just what I need it to, and without cost. While doing the Win 10 tech preview, I used it to recover to older preview versions because the newer updates didn't install correctly. I believe they got those problems resolved nicely.

[clover-leaf-productions]

Danger Wil Robinson!  Why are you upgrading your operating system on a machine that makes you money?  I am assuming your machine is currently running windo$e 7, or 8.1.  These are all current operating systems, and there is no reason to dump them just because some marketing folks tell you to.  If it works don't try to break it.

You have admitted that you are not savvy under the hood of your computer, and that is fine.  windo$e 10, at this point is only safely used by the computer savvy, or those who have nothing to cry about, if their computer stops working.  In the commercial world none of us are making the move.  We want to see how stable this beast is.  We want to see if all packages like Ots, and the hardware like our sound cards are going to be stable with this new release.  There is still new hardware out there that does not work with windo$e 7!  Why should we expect 10 to work?

One of the big problems that has reared its ugly head is 10 has issues with some video cards. When the system restarts you may have no picture, or one with only basic configuration ability.

-Just say NO to 10!

[DJArt (Baby Boomer DJ)]

Danger Wil Robinson!  Why are you upgrading your operating system on a machine that makes you money?  I am assuming your machine is currently running windo$e 7, or 8.1.  These are all current operating systems, and there is no reason to dump them just because some marketing folks tell you to.  If it works don't try to break it.

You have admitted that you are not savvy under the hood of your computer, and that is fine.  windo$e 10, at this point is only safely used by the computer savvy, or those who have nothing to cry about, if their computer stops working.  In the commercial world none of us are making the move.  We want to see how stable this beast is.  We want to see if all packages like Ots, and the hardware like our sound cards are going to be stable with this new release.  There is still new hardware out there that does not work with windo$e 7!  Why should we expect 10 to work?

One of the big problems that has reared its ugly head is 10 has issues with some video cards. When the system restarts you may have no picture, or one with only basic configuration ability.

-Just say NO to 10!

You do have a point!  Novice users shouldn't jump off the cliff because other have done so before...wait for the safe landing.

Point well taken.

[Jumpin' Jeff]

LOL!
Don't panic!

Windows 10 is not a major upgrade by any means. A lot of it is still windows 7 and windows 8 code. The major difference it that it merges the windows 7 and 8 start menu, and adds virtual desktops. There may indeed be some driver issues, but I do know that MS had issues with nVidia video cards, and I have one in my preview system that hasn't had a single issue as long as I installed the native nVidia drivers instead of the Windows version.

I would only recommend the upgrade, if you felt comfortable doing it. Otherwise, yeah, definitely hold off.

[milky]

Be aware that, if you have Update Windows Automatically turned ON (the default), you might get Win 10 shoved at you as an "update", so make sure you set your current system to notify you of changes, but not to update without your intervention.

My advice would be to hold off, as there are definitely bugs arising (and hopefully, being fixed) on a daily basis. Windows 8 had to rush out the 8.1 version because of user backlash, and this may yet happen with Win 10 too.

[Jumpin' Jeff]

In order to automatically upgrade to 10, you would have received a white windows flag in your notification area, clicked on it, and reserved your copy of 10 for that system. If you don't reserve your copy, it should not be forced on you.

You have a full year from July 29, 2015 to accept and install your free copy of windows 10 on windows 7, 8, and 8.1 systems, but you are not required to upgrade.

[kdservices]

one bit of advice i found out this week . is you are upgrading from win 7 change all user accounts to administarator befor the upgrade then after each one has logged on once under win 10 then change back to standard otherwise it can get stuck when setting up desktop as a standard account. the laptop i did for a friend had 2 standard accounts and 1 administrator. and bothe the standard accounts got stuck at configuring google chrome.

Kds